Flood of goals shows how much Hawks need Corey Crawford

If the Blackhawks were trying to prove they desperately need Corey Crawford back in net they couldn't have done a better job of it than they did in Tuesday night's 8-6 loss to the Red Wings.

This was one game, and a preseason one at that. But when Cam Ward allowed a goal on the first two shots he faced and Anton Forsberg let in the first one he saw it did nothing to instill confidence in a team that faces so many questions about its goaltending.

A forlorn Ward couldn't hide his disappointment after allowing six goals on just 17 shots over two periods. Coach Joel Quenneville had indicated Ward would play the entire game but Forsberg was in net to start the third period.

"Not good," Ward said. "Definitely was a rough game for me personally. Obviously, got off to a rough start right from the get go, they got a fortunate bounce right in front and put it in and unfortunately just wasn't able to get comfortable through the game.

"It's just one of those games, whether it's preseason or not, you want to put forth a good outing and a good effort and tonight just wasn't the night. I'm going to do what I can to flush it away and not let it ruin my training camp and just get ready for the next one."

The first goal came only 16 seconds into the game when Thomas Vanek found a loose puck and buried it past Ward. Less than five minutes later Andreas Athanasiou beat Ward with a wrist shot high over his glove side to make it 2-1.

Ward didn't want to make too much of one game but he also couldn't escape what had just occurred in his first appearance as a Blackhawk at the United Center.

"Any time you let in six it's embarrassing as a goaltender," Ward said. "But like I said, you don't want to overanalyze or overthink it. Unfortunately, games like this sometimes happen but at the end of the day it doesn't count and I don't want it to ruin my training camp."

Quenneville didn't appear pleased but he wasn't about to dwell on a game that means nothing in the standings.

"We'll throw it in the basket," Quenneville said. "Pucks were going in on both ends at an abnormal rate. You have a few games like that over the course of a season. Good thing it was preseason."